Yahoo Japan Jul-Sep profit rises 12% to Y27.1B

PaulJackson

TOKYO--Yahoo Japan (4689.TO) said its group net profit for the fiscal second quarter increased by 11.8%, citing strong growth in advertising revenue on the back of improved advertising functionality and smartphone-related operations.

Japan's most popular Internet portal site operator said its group net profit for the July-September period increased to 27.1 billion yen from Y24.2 billion a year earlier.

For the three-month period, Yahoo Japan's operating profit increased 6.7% to Y43.2 billion from Y40.6 billion on revenue of Y78.7 billion, a 6.8% increase from Y73.7 billion a year earlier.

The company said enhancements of its advertising functionality and marketing activities boosted advertising revenue, especially in search- and personal interest-related advertising. Revenue also grew on strong demand from industries such as recruitment and real estate. Higher revenue from game-related services and data center services also helped support the solid performance.

For the full fiscal year ending March 2013, Yahoo Japan now forecasts a Y107.3 billion to Y109.6 billion net profit on revenue ranging from Y319 billion to Y325 billion. It sees operating profit for the 12 months at Y173.3 billion to Y177.0 billion.

Yahoo Japan installed a younger management team in April and has been looking to increase its focus on smartphone-related revenue streams to counter a slowdown in profit growth as consumers increasingly use smartphones to access the Internet rather than personal computers.

Yahoo Japan is a unit of the Japanese mobile phone and Internet service company Softbank Corp. (9984.TO), which holds a roughly 42% stake. Yahoo Inc.
YHOO
of the U.S. also holds a one-third stake.

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